<p>My S and I recently went on a college tour of FSU and during the tour one parent raised the question regarding the mandatory summer semester for Florida residents. I called UF regarding it and they said that it is indeed a recent mandate by the state and is in addition to the four years at a state college. Can anyone else shed some light on this? My S is not happy about that and quite frankly neither am I. That would mean another $9,000 on top of the regular four years of tuition. Am I correct on that? </p>
<p>Yes, students who start at in the Florida University System must complete at least 9 hours during a summer semester in order to graduate. There used to be an exemption for students who had 9 hours of accelerated credit (AP, IB, AICE, dual enrollment) but the legislature removed the exemption in 2011, I believe.</p>
<p>I’m not sure it has to be $9,000 on top of tuition - there are different ways to meet the requirement including things like study abroad.</p>
<p>It can actually save you (and your son) some money. If he signs a 12 month lease in the year he plans his summer semester he’ll get better housing and/or a lower rental rate. Classes taken in the summer count toward his graduation requirement so if he can pick up a couple of extra hours somewhere (AP/IB/overload…) he can graduate early. It will take planning - many senior level courses won’t be offered over the summer so you need to plan lower-level courses for summer.</p>
<p>Looks like another load balancing technique. Basically, they want to fill unused summer capacity, while reducing the number of students who are a few credits short of graduation and would take an extra fall semester (when enrollment is typically the highest). See Dartmouth’s D-plan for another example.</p>
<p>If the student’s use of summer courses does avoid the need for an extra full semester (or allows graduating in 7 semesters + 1 summer instead of 8 semesters), then that can actually result in a net savings of college costs.</p>
<p>If the course offerings are fewer in the summer, it may be better to plan for pre-frosh or frosh-soph summer in school, since lower division courses tend to be more available. Soph-junior and junior-senior summers are more likely to be when students get worthwhile internships.</p>
<p>True; that is why (when under such a requirement) going to school in the pre-frosh or frosh-soph summer makes more sense than the soph-junior or junior-senior summer.</p>
<p>If the student needs remedial courses (which a lot of college students do, since we are talking about the entire Florida public university system, not just the more selective ones), then doing them in the pre-frosh summer may help the students stay on track for taking major prep courses and graduating on time.</p>
<p>OTOH, it would seem to me a freshman or sophomore would do better to take classes in the summer, and then take off the spring semester, when jobs might be easier to come by. Just my thoughts.</p>
<p>I posted a little whine earlier today about d needing a second year of summer courses to avoid a monstrous load down the road. It is an unbudgeted expense BUT even two summers comes out less than an extra semester. I think it’ll be cheaper than overload fees, as well. </p>
<p>I agree that one should take the summer semester early when in need of gen Ed/distribution courses because they are offered more frequently than specialized major classes. </p>
<p>Normally, fin aid is divided in half (or thirds at quarter schools). We get no aid package for summer (but there is a big rate discount for summer courses). How will these Florida publics be handling financial aid during that required summer? Is there any? Does it reduce school year aid? Do you just pay out of pocket?</p>
<p>In my experience, summers are not covered by fin aid or bright futures (I graduated last Spring). I had to take out loans. Its also a pain because you need at least 6 credit hours for the loans to disperse. It can be a real headache.</p>
<p>It is definitely worth it to get it out of the way as a freshman/sophomore. However, I did take some classes over the summer after changing my major. I still worked PT at my job and also worked in a research lab. I liked summer classes because some of them can be a change of pace from the normal semester. Its also possible to find classes that stretch the whole summer semester or some that last only 6 weeks. Depends on the school and the summer sessions offered. </p>
<p>Some FL schools offer summer grants, I would look into those. I received a summer grant award one year. I would camp out at the financial aid office and make them show you all the options for summer funding. I didn’t do that and wish I had because it was just more loans I had to take out. If you’re only taking a 6 week class, it can be hard to work on top of it, because the class is so condensed you need to be attentive and working round the clock to do well.</p>